Squirrel Hayes First School

Squirrel Hayes First School continues to perform well, maintaining its good status since its last inspection in 2018. The school prides itself on strong staff-pupil relationships, ensuring that every child feels valued and supported in their learning journey. The curriculum is broad and effectively helps pupils progress, particularly in reading, where the emphasis on early literacy creates enthusiastic readers. The staff's dedication to pupil well-being is evident, as they provide excellent support, especially for those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Despite these strengths, the school faces a challenge with attendance, as a small number of pupils are not attending regularly enough, which affects their learning outcomes. Leaders are focused on improving attendance through better strategies involving family engagement.

Strengths

• Staff are dedicated to the well-being and progress of all pupils.
• Strong relationships between pupils and staff foster a positive learning environment.
• Pupils excel in reading thanks to early interventions and a focus on literacy.
• High-quality support is provided for pupils with SEND.
• Pupils enjoy a broad and well-planned curriculum.
• The school encourages positive attitudes towards learning and resilience.

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils have inadequate attendance, hindering their progress.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Squirrel Hayes First School attended 93.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 20.4% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.0% of pupils at Squirrel Hayes First School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Squirrel Hayes First School had 11.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 21.6% of pupils at Squirrel Hayes First School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 11.8% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Squirrel Hayes First School received £13,514 and spent £16,191 for each of its 51 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £637,000 (-£12,480 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Stoke-On-Trent · Stoke-on-Trent local authority: places and applications

Squirrel Hayes First School is part of Biddulph Schools Partnership Trust, which runs 2 schools. The nearest others:

• Moor First School Stoke-On-Trent

What is Squirrel Hayes First School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Squirrel Hayes First School is Good, from an inspection in May 2024.

When was Squirrel Hayes First School last inspected by Ofsted?

Squirrel Hayes First School was last inspected in May 2024.

How many pupils does Squirrel Hayes First School have?

Squirrel Hayes First School has 51 pupils on roll.

What age range does Squirrel Hayes First School cover?

Squirrel Hayes First School for pupils aged 3 to 9.

Where is Squirrel Hayes First School?

Squirrel Hayes First School is at Springfield Road, Biddulph, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST8 7DF.